Bill would offer undocumented college students access to loans.

Some California college students in the country illegally would have access to the same loan opportunities as other students under state legislation endorsed by California’s two public university systems.

Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, on Wednesday introduced the California DREAM Loan Program, which would make loans available to an estimated 2,500 students in the University of California and California State University systems.

The program, if approved by the Legislature, would cost California and the university systems an estimated $10.1 million in the first year.

Janet Napolitano, UC system president, and Alexander Gonzalez, president of Cal State Sacramento, expressed support for the legislation Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Education Committee.

“These students have worked hard to achieve their dream of a university education, and I believe we should work as hard to ensure that they have every chance to succeed, including providing them access to the same resources as their campus peers,” Napolitano told the committee, which voted 5-0 to approve the measure and send the legislation to the Senate’s Appropriations Committee.

Among the supporters was Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana.

Sens. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, and Mark Wyland, R-Escondido, abstained. Wyland said he would not vote on the bill because immigration “needs to be addressed nationally.”

The law would affect an estimated 1,300 students at UC’s 10 campuses and approximately 1,200 more at CSU’s 23 campuses, according to university system representatives.

“If it’s an easier way for students to get loans, it would certainly speed up our graduation and that would be helpful,” said Cal State Long Beach senior Ana Barbara Roman, who began college as a student in the country illegally but is now registered under a 2012 program known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which allows young people who meet certain criteria to defer action against deportation and allows them, temporarily, to remain in the country legally.

Roman said she has never sought a loan, paying for her schooling with money from part-time jobs, her family and scholarships. But she expects she will likely apply for loans when she goes to graduate school.

Armando Vazquez-Ramos, a Cal State Long Beach professor active in immigration reform issues, said: “Senator Lara is providing historically important leadership with unprecedented legislation that follows the footsteps of his mentor, the late Assemblyman Marco Antonio Firebaugh, who should be credited with the landmark AB540 bill that allowed for ‘Dreamers’ to pay in-state tuition in California’s public colleges and universities and now in effect in many states.”

Beginning in 2001, students in California illegally and others who qualify – students on visas who attended a California high school for at least three years, for example – became eligible for lower in-state tuition rates through AB540. As of January 2013, those same students became eligible to apply for other financial aid, including scholarships and grants from state and non-state funds.

Despite this aid, the students still face a gap in their annual financial aid packages of roughly $5,000 to $6,000 at UC and $3,000 at CSU because they do not qualify for federal student loans. Some of those students have to work additional hours, extend their graduation dates and, in some cases, drop out of college, Lara said.

“This is about leveling the financial-aid playing field, not about providing benefits to one group that is not already available to others,” Napolitano said.

At Cal State San Bernardino, professor Enrique Murillo, who coordinates a national Latino conference each year, said the legislation could make a critical difference for students who face many obstacles.

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